One of the mottos for the Columbus North basketball team this year is “Be willing to give up a good shot for a great shot.”
It was evident Saturday night that the Bull Dogs have been paying close attention. North had four players score in double figures in picking up its third conscecutive win, a 68-51 triumph against visiting Martinsville 68-51.
Nick Schiavello and Blake Barker led the way, each scoring 18 points, while Reese Harmon tallied 16 and Trenton Kelley chipped in 12 during the very balanced effort.
“We knew that we would learn a lot about our team this weekend. We are an inexperienced team with only two guys with a lot of varsity minutes coming back,” North coach Paul Ferguson said. “But we also knew that we could get scoring from a lot of different areas if we were unselfish and shared the ball.”
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
The Artesians (0-2) began the game with a quick 2-0 lead, but that wass the only lead they would have for the remainder of the night. The Bull Dogs (3-1) quickly tied the score and took the lead for good on a Barker basket at 6-4. By the end of the first quarter, North held a 15-9 lead, and four of the starters were already in the scoring column.
The Bull Dogs continued to extend their lead throughout the second quarter behind the hot hand of Barker, who got free for three 3-point shots on the way to scoring nine points in the period. Barker’s second 3-pointer extended North’s lead to 23-13 early in the quarter.
Martinsville was able to cut the lead down to six on a Chase Havlin offensive putback, but Barker’s third triple extended the Bull Dog lead back up to 10 right before halftime.
The Artesians never threatened after the break, as North’s defense clamped down on the visitors in the second half. For the night, Martinsville shot just 39 percent from the field, which pleased Ferguson.
“I thought we were very good at executing the scouting report defensively tonight. We held their leading scorer (Reid Staggs) to eight points. I know that (Tyler) Stead had a nice night, but we switched defenses a lot, and I think we were able to keep them off balance for the majority of the game,” Ferguson said.
After North extended its lead to 17 points in the third period, the Artesians got no closer than 11 points the rest of the way. Schiavello led the way for the Bull Dogs in the second half, scoring 12 points after intermission.
Kelley also made sure Martinsville had no plans on coming back by scoring eight in the second half, giving North its fourth double digit scorer. The Bull Dogs led by as many as 19 in the third and held a 54-39 lead going into the fourth quarter.
In the final period, North held off a small rally from the Artesians, who were able to cut the lead to 11 with 5:50 left. A Schiavello steal and three-point play stopped the run.
“In practice, we always work on passing up the good shot for the great shot,” Harmon said. “We are a team that just wants to win. We don’t care who gets the points. We want to find the open man for the best shot.”
